Assassin in the Void
By psychored1911
Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed or Familiar of Zero
Chapter 6: Liberation
At the academy, early in the morning
Saito watched Louise practice her horseback riding while he practiced spinning his USP in his hand. Sure, he wasn't exactly using a revolver, but ever since the bleeding effect started affecting him, he started growing quite fond of it. 'No wonder my ancestor did this a lot; this is kind of fun,' the young assassin thought as he kept spinning his pistol.
Louise stopped her horse and watched as her familiar spun his, in her opinion, odd looking firearm "what are you doing?"
Saito tossed his USP over his shoulder, caught it, and then put it back in its holster "since when have my actions interest you?" he smirked.
Louise flinched. She had gotten more and more curious of Saito ever since his "rescue" of most of the academy's student body a few weeks prior, but it wasn't like she would admit it "I was just asking, sheesh!' she pouted.
Saito rolled his eyes, though hidden under his hood "You shouldn't really ask if you're not truly interested,"
Before they could ignite an argument, a horse-drawn carriage galloped up to them. Kirche's smiling face emerged from one of the windows "Are you two fighting already, at this hour in the morning?"
Louise just stared menacingly at Kirche. Saito, on the other hand, folded his arms "I take it you're going on a trip?"
"As observant as always, darling," Kirche winked at him "Tabitha has invited me over to her home in Gallia, so we're going there for vacation." She moved out of the window, revealing Tabitha reading a book behind her.
Saito gave them a simple shrug. Personally, he did not care about what people did with their vacations "Well, have a safe trip… I guess," he watched as Kirche and Tabitha's carriage drove away.
Louise fumed "I don't want you to talking to that Zerbst woman!" she demanded.
"Oh, and why shouldn't I?" Saito raised an eyebrow.
"Because, the Zerbst and the La Valliere have been at war since my grandfather- hey what are you doing?" she yelled as Saito walked behind her horse.
Saito, who lost interest in the conversation, smacked the rear end of the horse as hard as he could.
*NEIGH!*
Louise's horse rapidly galloped out of the academy gates, leaving Louise, who was still riding the horse, to cling on for dear life.
Saito rubbed his hands together as he watched Louise gallop into the distance. "I wonder if Scarron has anything for me to do," he said as he started walking towards the town.
Sometime afterwards, Charming Faeries' Inn
Saito walked into the Charming Faeries' Inn "Hey Scarron, you in here-"
"Oh good you're here!" Scarron shoved a large package into the young assassin's hand. "I need you to deliver this to Jeanne, the leader of the Mercenaries' guild."
Saito examined the package "What's in the package anyway?" he gently shook the package.
"It's something that she asked me to hold onto while she was away," Scarron urged him to the door "Just make sure to deliver that package. The Mercenaries' guild building is in the northern district of town; you can't miss it."
"…" ever so reluctantly, Saito picked up the package and headed for the Mercenaries' Guild building.
A bit later, somewhere in town
Saito stood outside a building. The building in particular looked like the cross between a mercenaries' barracks and a gym. A sign, a small bear in a blue pentagon, stood on the door. "This looks like the place," Saito said as he opened the door.
Saito looked around; multiple heavily armored men and women were either training or chatting amongst themselves. A few of them stopped and started looking at Saito, whispering "Isn't that the rumored angel everyone's been talking about?" or "What's a kid doing in a place like this?" or "Hey, that's the kid who murdered Sir Turenne." Among other such sayings.
One of the mercenaries approached the young assassin. He pulled out what looked like a wanted poster. To Saito's horror, the poster had what looked like an effigy of his hooded self on it. It read "WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE. This criminal is wanted for assassination, homicide, theft, grand theft, vandalism, and rebellion against the nobility. The royal council is offering 5,000 ecu to anyone who captures or kills this revolutionary." Seeing this, Saito put a hand on his USP and watched the mercenary with anticipation.
What the mercenary did next, however, surprised the young assassin; the mercenary pulled out a pen and asked "Could I have your autograph?"
Saito just stood there, dumbfounded "Uh, sure… I guess," he took the pen and signed the wanted poster. He sweatdropped as some of the younger mercenaries swarmed around him, asking him all sorts of questions and such.
"Hey, give the poor man some space.' The mercenaries dispersed as a young man emerged from one of the rooms. From the look of it, he was no older than Saito, maybe a bit older. The young man wore plate armor over a blue tunic and black pants. He wore what looked like a bearded axe on his belt.
"I presume you're the leader of the Mercenaries' Guild?" Saito guessed.
The young man shook his head "I'm sorry sir; I am her second in command." He then presented his hand "They call me Eliot, nice to meet you."
The young assassin shook his hand "The name's Saito, nice to meet you."
"Ah, we've heard of you; you're famous among the Halkenginian Underground." Eliot told him "In fact, Jeanne told me if you ever showed up in the building, I was to recruit you immediately."
"I'm flattered, but I'm only here to deliver a package," Saito put the package on a nearby table "Though to tell you the truth, I'm more than willing to join if I get to meet her first."
Eliot flinched "Uh… well, um… here's the thing…" he started to sweat rapidly, not going unnoticed by Saito.
"She's not here, is she?" Saito guessed.
"Captain Jeanne disappeared a week ago. I sent our best messengers on it, but they haven't reported back anything yet."
Suddenly, someone barged in through the door. It was the messenger "Captain Jeanne has been arrested!' the messenger yelled.
Everyone in the guild gasped in shock. Saito, on the other hand, started walking over to the door "Where is the prison? I'm getting her out of there" he sternly asked.
"You're going to break her out?" Eliot asked, astonished "If you would do this for a total stranger, imagine what you'd do for a friend."
Saito shrugged "Doing good deeds for strangers is pretty much what I do best," he said simply as he reached for the door.
"Wait," Eliot tossed Saito a small seal. The seal looked just like the sign on the door; a bear inside a blue pentagon "Take this; famous or not, she's unpredictable unless she knows you are an ally."
Saito placed the badge on his shoulder "Thanks," with that, he exited the building.
Several hours later
Saito stood atop a tree, looking at the monolithic prison in the distance. The prison was a large, multilayered building, at least 4 or 5 stories tall. A stone fence surrounded the building, five lookout buildings situated around the building like a pentagon. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any search lights, those usually cause the most problems during breakouts. However, from where Saito can see, there were plenty of patrols out on the courtyard, so that's out too. There was also a skylight, but there were several patrols on the roof as well. It confused him that there were guards on the roof, but very few personnel were on the battlements.
"Now, how am I supposed to get in there?" Saito grumbled as he searched for a way in.
"Look over there,"
Saito's eyesight turned black, with the guards turning a dark red and a small gold area on the ground. After his eyesight returned to him, Saito leapt from tree to tree, slowly making his way to the glinting, gold mass.
It was a simple, large boulder. However, Saito could feel a gentle draft coming from it. Letting his sight turn black, Saito traced a gold path from the boulder to the prison; it had to be a secret passageway.
'About time I got started,' Saito thought as he pulled out Derflinger.
"H… huh? Whoa!" Derflinger woke with a start as Saito started using him as a crowbar "Partner! What are you doing?" He yelled angrily.
"Shut up," Saito said quietly as he pried the manhole open. He hopped inside, pulling the boulder over him as he did.
"What the hell! It's dark in here!" Derflinger complained "Why are we in here anyway?"
"We're going to break out a potential ally," Saito told him. Using his 'other eyes', he looked around; it was not a simple passageway, but a large network of underground caves. Judging from the man-made quality, as well as making out several unlit torches, Saito guessed that either the prison was built over some sort of ancient tunnel systems like the shrine of Romulus, or that this was an actual part of the prison, knowledge of its existence given only to high members of the council and being virtually unknown to commoners.
Brushing the thought aside, he started navigating the underground caverns, looking for an entrance inside. As he continued on his way, Saito kept walking until he noticed a corpse lying near the wall. Curious, he examined the body "let's see here," he gently grasped the head, taking note of the various bullet holes in the corpse. "Judging from the decay, I'm guessing that the person died some time ago, like around 40 years ago," whoever this person was, judging by the uniform, he was most likely a field operative of the C.I.A. who died in the Vietnam War. 'The poor guy must've been a Templar Spy,' Saito deduced 'he must have ended up here through that strange light and was most likely trapped in this cavern. Through his injuries, he died by bleeding out.' Saito uttered a short prayer "Yasurakani nemure (rest in peace)."
After passing on the dead Templar, Saito began searching the corpse for anything that he could use. As he searched, he found a silenced Ingram MAC-10 submachine gun, much to his pleasure. Putting the gun away, he also found four M34 white phosphorus grenades, 4 spare clips for the MAC-10, a zippo lighter and, oddly, a pair of kevlar leg guards used only by bomb squads.
"Hey partner, quick question for ya," Derflinger came out of his sheath "Where exactly do you put all of your weapons?"
"What are you talking about?" Saito asked as he slipped the leg guards over his pants "They're on my person all the time."
"I'm just saying; isn't all that equipment heavy? I mean, you don't seem to be tired in the least. Even more so, I'm pretty sure that some of the stuff you stand on would collapse under your combined weight."
"That's not important. Let's just get to the prison as soon as possible." Saito said as he started walking.
"You're avoiding my question," Derflinger complained "Hey! Listen to me!"
A bit later, after Derflinger calmed down
Eventually, Saito made it to a dead end. "Well partner, this route's no good." Derflinger told him "Well, let's just tell them that we tried. Now, let's go home."
"Hold up," Saito knew where he was going; the gold path led to here. Playing on a hunch, he picked up a stray rock and threw it at the wall as hard as he could.
*CLACK! … Clack… clack…"
"There's an echo coming from behind this wall; there's definitely something behind there." Saito felt up the wall, looking for a way in "If I'm right, then there should be a secret passageway right around… Here!" the young assassin pushed a brick inwards, making it recede into the wall. Suddenly, the wall drew forward, revealing a secret passageway "See, what did I tell you?"
Derflinger was speechless "H… how did you know that was there?"
"Please, if reading those history books told me anything, it told me that there can be a secret passageway anywhere; you just need to find it." Saito commented as he walked inside.
To his surprise, it did not lead to the metal cells and concrete floors like he was expecting. Instead he was greeted by rows and rows of… bookshelves?
"I'm in a library? This can't be right." The young assassin shook his head "Wait a minute… calm down. Nowadays, prisons have libraries installed either for the use of the prisoners or to store records." He walked around, being wary enough to hide his presence "Well, while I'm here, I might as well search for prison records."
Eventually, after searching bookshelf after bookshelf, he finally found the prison record book "Ah, this is it," he flipped through the pages "Jeanne of the Mercenaries' Guild, cell 3-45, arrested for assault and… rebellion against the nobility?" he checked another prisoner "Christophe von Raelnas, cell 2-14, arrested for treason, rebellion against the nobility… that sounds like the name of a noble," he checked each and every last prisoner. Each prisoner was arrested for different things, but they all had one similar crime; rebellion against the nobility. What's more, the names of many prisoners looked like names nobles would have "Something's not right…" Saito commented as he pocketed the record book, walked over to an unaware guard, and activated his hidden blades.
*SHTLINK!*
A couple minutes later
Saito, disguised as a guard, looked around; the inside looked like the interior of the Kilmainham Gaol prison in Dublin, minus several iron bars and give or take a couple of floors. He had to give it to the Halkenginians, their craftsmanship was impeccable. Putting his thoughts aside, he used the keys he obtained to open one of the cells. "Excuse me, are you Jeanne?" he asked as he came inside.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" the woman shot back. Taking another look, Jeanne was around a beautiful woman, perhaps a couple years older than him, with long, rugged black hair, dark eyes and quite a large… chest. She wore a blue tunic, black pants and heavy armor. For some strange reason, she resembled of one of the maids at the academy; who was it again?
"Good," Saito quickly removed the armor, revealing his white and red hood. "I'm here to get you out of here."
"…" Jeanne slowly recognized him "Hey, you're the revolutionary that everyone's been talking about," she presented her hand "The name's Jeanne; I'm the leader of the Mercenaries' guild. I wish I could've met you under better circumstances, and not in a prison,"
Saito shook her hand "Yeah… I don't like being called 'revolutionary'; call me Saito."
Jeanne noticed the seal on Saito's shoulder "That seal… wait a minute, you're one of us?"
"Yeah, I was invited by your second in command, Eliot." Saito told her.
Jeanne made a cheered pose "Yes! I knew that Eliot wouldn't let me down! I got one of the most powerful-"
Saito hastily stopped her from talking "Shush, don't try to attract attention to us right now," he sat down "Well, now that we have some time, do you mind if you tell me what you're doing here?"
Jeanne shook her head as she took a seat on the ground "You don't know why this prison was built, do you?"
"Not in the slightest, no." Saito bluntly answered.
"According to some old records; this prison was supposed to hold disgraced nobles; you know, mages who have been dishonored but still have their magic. Those nobles, though dishonored, still come as a threat to the courts because they can exact revenge on the other nobles who have dishonored them. So, in short, they are sent here so the courts can keep an eye on them. They also keep the families of some just nobles here just so they could keep dominion over them." Jeanne glanced at the iron-cast door "Eventually, they started to keep commoner prisoners here too. Nowadays, anyone whom the nobility can't control… well, they're sent here so they don't cause any troubles. Criminals, disgraced nobles, hell… even the influential leaders of some of the guilds pose a threat to them, so now they're on the run."
"…" Hidden under Saito's hood, a look of disgust formed on his face. He knew that the nobility weren't the nicest of people, but to imprison others just so they could keep their superiority… it was disgusting. They were just like the Templar Order; doing whatever they can just so they can get power. Their deeds and their means to do it were so eerily similar, that one could mistake one of the nobles in Halkenginia as a member of the Templar order. "They're not going to get away with this." He growled.
"I thought you might say that," Jeanne smiled "Quick I need a pen and paper. Here's the plan…"
A few minutes later
Saito, back in his guard disguise, snooped around and discreetly walked into the supply room. Once there, he quickly removed the armor and started looking for supplies "Ah, here we go," he picked up several spare sets of keys from the shelves. While he was there, he picked up a crowbar, figuring that it would help if any doors were too hard to open normally. 'That should be it,' Saito thought as he walked towards the door.
Before he left, however, he took a glance at the supply room's workbench; a short, slim blade was sitting on the table. Walking over to the workbench, he took out the syringe he obtained earlier, and sat down, a smile on his face.
Several hours later, back at the Mercenaries' Guild
Saito walked back into the Mercenaries' guild. He quickly got Eliot's attention "Eliot, I need you to round up as many mercenaries as you can, right now."
Eliot blinked "What's going on? Where's the captain?"
Saito shook his head "She's still in the prison. Look, the point is, we're going to break everyone out of that place." He took out the plan and showed it to him.
Eliot's eyes widened "This plan doesn't seem half bad, it also looks like a plan that Captain Jeanne would make." He stood up "Okay, I'm in." he handed Saito the package he left earlier "You need to deliver this to Captain Jeanne while you're there."
"Can't this wait until later?" Saito asked, somewhat confused with the contents of the package.
"Just give this to her while we're there, would you?" Eliot insisted on giving her the package as he started to rally some of the mercenaries.
"…" Saito hid a smile under his hood as he slung the package over his shoulders "It's about time for the liberation to commence."
Another few hours later, late at night
Saito led Eliot and a group of mercenaries back to the boulder. "Alright, this is it," using the crowbar he obtained earlier, Saito pushed the boulder away, revealing an underground cavern. He hopped inside, with the others quickly following. He flicked on the lighter, providing a source of illumination in the dark caverns. He led the mercenaries through the dark labyrinth until they reached the entrance. "Okay, here's the plan," he handed Eliot the keys and turned off the lighter. "You guys wait here while I distract the guards. When you hear an explosion, count down from 20. After you finished counting down, you rush out of here and go free the prisoners. But hurry, the distraction will give you a three minute window, at least." He opened up the secret passageway and walked inside.
Closing the door behind him, Saito quickly made his way to one of the barred windows and took out the crowbar. Removing the bars on the window, he put away the crowbar and climbed outside. Scaling the prison's wall, he climbed up and found himself atop one of the battlements. Eyeing one of the trees nearby the walls, Saito pulled out his crossbow, tied one of the white phosphorus grenades to one of the crossbow bolts, replaced the bolt and took aim.
*zip!*
The bolt whizzed through the air for several seconds until it hit the tree in one of its branches.
"You forgot to pull off the pin."
"I know that," Saito put away the crossbow and took out his L42A1. Chambering a round, he aimed at the grenade and pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
The bullet pierced through the grenade, causing it to explode and burst into flames. The flames instantly consumed the tree and rapidly advanced towards nearby trees.
Below him, Saito watched as a majority of the guards scrambled outside, trying to stop the forest fire from breaking out any further. The young assassin smirked; the plan worked perfectly. If he was back in his world, this method would've been frowned upon by a couple of his peers for destroying the environment. But, considering that this is a Renaissance-esque world, there were more trees around; something like this wasn't that significantly damaging to the environment.
Shrugging the thought aside, Saito climbed down the battlement and went back inside. There, he watched as the mercenaries worked as fast as they could to liberate the prisoners. Taking out his set of keys, Saito walked over to Jeanne's cell and unlocked it.
Jeanne walked out of her cell "What took so long?" she asked.
"I made a little distraction for the guards," He told her as he handed her the package "Oh and Scarron told me to give this to you."
Jeanne's eyes widened as she opened the package, revealing a large claymore. "I knew I could rely on Scarron to hold my stuff," she said as she flourished her claymore with unexpected ease.
Saito sweatdropped "A sword was in that package the whole time?" he shook his head "You know what, never mind. We have to go right now; the window to get out of here is closing."
"Oh relax," Jeanne leaned backwards "what did you do for a distraction?"
"Start a little forest fire, why?"
"Don't worry, that's going to take them forever." Jeanne laughed "What did you do with the other shift?"
Saito blinked "Other shift?"
"Yeah, they switch guard shifts around this time." Jeanne paused "Wait a minute, if you didn't occupy those guys, then-"
Suddenly, a large horde of guards swarmed the ground floor "What the hell is going on?!" They gasped in horror as they saw the mercenaries free the prisoners they were paid to imprison.
"Kuso (Shit)," Saito activated his hidden gun and fired, killing the one of the guard captains.
Chaos ensued as the mercenaries clashed with the prison guards. The guards had their training, but the mercenaries had much more experience, plus they also fought dirtier than the guards, giving them an unfair advantage. Also, Saito watched as several of the prisoners picked up any discarded weapons and started attacking the guards, finally getting their vengeance against their tormentors.
Jeanne growled "I can't just stand here while my mercenaries fight all by themselves," she leapt off the ledge and joined Eliot in the fight.
"…" Saito stayed on the upper levels, unlocking any cells that weren't unlocked yet. When he was done with that, he entered a supply room and swiped a quiver of crossbow bolts. He pulled out his crossbow once again and fired at guards from above, providing the mercenaries and the prisoners cover fire.
Some time has passed; the battle was still going on, but the mercenaries and the prisoners were gaining the upper hand with their combined numbers. The guards were close to being overwhelmed.
*flap, flap*
For a minute, Saito paused and looked at the prison's skylight "What's that sound?"
*CRASH!*
Five winged beasts broke through the skylight and descended gracefully onto the ground. Upon closer inspection, however, they appeared to be griffins, complete with an eagle's head and wings, and a lion's body. There also seemed to be armored knights riding them.
One of the riders, who seems to be the leader, got off his mount, and looked around. He had gray hair and a beard, but looked like he was in his late 20s/early 30s. He wore dark blue armor and a feathered cap. For some reason, he made Saito's skin crawl "To all mercenaries and prisoners, I am Viscount Wardes, captain of Her Majesty's Griffin knights. I ask of all of you to surrender right now. I promise that no harm shall come to you if you do. However, if you do not, I cannot promise your safety."
Saito, who was watching from one of the upper floors, used his 'other eyes' as he examined Viscount Wardes. Amongst his allies, all of whom were highlighted red, he was highlighted gold. 'This guy seems like bad news.' Looking down the sights, Saito aimed his crossbow at Wardes and pulled the trigger.
*ZIP!*
As the bolt flew through the air, Wardes took notice and sidestepped, letting the crossbow bolt harmlessly whiz past his head. He looked at Saito and gave a smug grin "So, the ringleader of this breakout shows himself at last." His lieutenants aimed their staff-swords at Saito, but he called them off "You must be the criminal that everyone's been talking about."
"So, what if I am?" Saito reloaded his crossbow and kept it trained on Wardes.
"I have heard about you; not only have you murdered Fouquet the crumbling dirt, but you also assassinated two nobles who were being investigated as members of Reconquista. In the eyes of many, you don't seem like a criminal the nobles see you as."
"What's your point?" Saito kept glaring at Wardes.
"My point is, you are one of the few who can truly stand up to the nobles," Wardes moved his arm, as if to offer a handshake "That is why I am asking of you to join the Griffin Knights."
Saito blinked in surprise "What?"
Jeanne and Eliot also gawked in confusion "What?"
Even Wardes' Griffin knights were dumbstruck "What?"
"I am offering you a place among the Griffin knights," Wardes declared. Unbeknownst to all present, he was assigned by his superiors in Reconquista to get rid of a certain… pest. But, as an act of mercy, Wardes was allowed to try to get this pest on their side, seeing as he could be a great asset should he join their cause.
"…" Saito stayed silent.
"Think about it; you will become a symbol of what commoners are able to become in this world. Other nobles will not be able to do anything to you. You get to serve Her Majesty, the queen, personally. There are no higher honors than that." Wardes stared at Saito "So, what do you say?"
"… Join your forces?" Saito jumped off the ledge and landed square on the ground floor, his crossbow still aimed at Wardes "Serve a queen who is blind to all the tyranny that the nobles bestow upon her people? Become the dog of such a corrupt council? Wear such a gaudy uniform that makes me look like a douchebag?" Saito let out an intense aura of intimidation, one that made most of the guards uncomfortable "No thanks; I'll pass."
"Ah, what a shame," Wardes gave a reptilian-like smile "There is only one other alternative than this deal; death." Wardes unleashed a dot wind spell, knocking the crossbow out of Saito's hand, destroying it.
"Ah, fuck." Saito quickly drew Derflinger and tried slashing Wardes, but was easily blocked by Wardes.
"Ha!" Wardes sneered "You can't beat me! I have learned swordsmanship from the finest swordsmen in Tristain!"
"Yeah, well I learned swordsmanship from my older sister!" Saito stomped on Wardes' boot, making him flinch long enough for the young assassin to give him a staggering sucker punch. "And she fights better than you, old man!"
"Old man!" Wardes raged as he regained his balance "I am only 26 years old!"
"Could've fooled me," Saito shrugged, making everyone, save for the Griffin Knights, laugh at Wardes' expense.
Wardes growled "You think you can beat the Captain of the Griffin Knights?" he cast a line wind spell "Rising gale!" a huge burst of wind came from Wardes' staff, launching Saito into the air and through the skylight. Getting back on his Griffin, he ordered the other Griffin knights to attack before giving chase.
Up at the roof
"U-uh…" Saito groggily got up as he looked around "Whoa…" the 'little' forest fire he started earlier has spread rapidly and surrounded the prison. Beneath the burning trees, the first shift of prison guards was still trying in vain to put out the fire. He coughed; the smoke from the fire was suffocating. He just needed to bear with it until he got out of there.
As he stood in thought, Wardes emerged from the skylight "You're cornered; there's nowhere for you to run."
"Sure, like there's anywhere to run up here." Saito said sarcastically, Derflinger still in his hand.
"Funny thing; I was curious about you when you murdered Fouquet the Crumbling dirt." Wardes told him "According to reports, you wear what looks like the runes of the Gandalfr on your left hand."
Saito tensed as he gripped Derflinger more tightly "How did you know that?"
"I'm what you'd call a scholar," Wardes folded his arms, his staff still in his arms "Pity you have to die, Gandalfr; you would've made a valuable asset to Tristain's forces."
"My loyalty is not to one country; it is to those who suffer to make men free." A slight pang of pain entered Saito's head before disappearing. He drew his USP and took a combat stance.
Wardes flourished his staff before pointing it at Saito "En garde (On your guard)!"
Saito charged at Wardes, dragging Derflinger along the roof as he did. He tried slashing Wardes, but was easily blocked by him, the clashing of metal on metal sending sparks flying everywhere "If you think that's going to work again, you're sorely mistaken." He effortlessly pushed the young assassin back "I thought that you were supposed to be tougher than this, Gandalfr."
"Grr…" Saito growled before bolting towards Wardes. As he came within arm's reach, he flipped over Wardes, inconspicuously activating a WP grenade, before dashing away.
"I'm sorry, but were you supposed to do something?" Wardes taunted.
*Clankity… clank… clank…*
The WP grenade dropped to the ground as it spewed its white smoke everywhere.
"Oh, I am supposed to be afraid of white smoke?" Wardes jeered.
"You should be," Saito opened his lighter and gave it a quick flick "Sayonara (goodbye)." He said as the small flame came in contact with the smoke, immediately igniting it. Wardes could only stare in shock as the white smoke immediately turned into flames, completely engulfing him. As Wardes started burning, Saito kicked the Griffin knight down the skylight, revealing him to the remaining guards, mercenaries and prisoners below.
Saito jumped down, ignoring the stares of shock from the guards. The idea of a mere commoner defeating the leader of the esteemed Griffin Knights was unheard of. Saito stomped on Wardes' burned body and aimed his USP at him "Tell your soldiers to stand down," Saito bellowed, no emotion present in his voice.
"W… why should I?" Wardes said weakly. 'Damn it…' If he hadn't been caught off guard, this wouldn't be happening. It should be the Gandalfr at his mercy, not the other way around. The 2nd degree burns from the Gandalfr's surprise attack weren't helping either.
"You're not in a position to negotiate." Saito stomped on Wardes even harder.
"Gah!" Wardes writhed in pain. He glanced at the guards and his Griffin Knights; his apparent defeat at the hands of Saito has greatly lowered their morale. He sighed in defeat "I know when I am defeated. All knights, stand down." He watched as the guards and the Griffin Knights dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.
"Good boy." Saito said as the mercenaries proceeded to tie up the guards.
"You know you're not going to get away with this." Wardes told him as Saito bound and gagged him.
"I probably am," Saito smirked as he finished tying him up.
"I'm just wondering, why didn't you kill me?" The Griffin knight captain asked.
"I came here to liberate the prisoners; I didn't come here to kill you." Saito got up and cleaned his hands with a rag "The ability to take one's life is power in itself. Like other kinds of power, too much of it can permanently corrupt who they once were. I made a vow never to give in to the darkness inside my heart."
"Spoken like a true noble." Wardes laughed "We shall definitely cross paths again. And when that time comes, you shall be the one tasting defeat in the gallows of Tristain."
"… I'll be waiting." Watching as Jeanne and Eliot led everyone out, Saito joined them as they conclusively left the hated prison.
As they left the prison, Jeanne gave him a nudge "That was one of our greatest exploits ever. I heard you were good, but to defeat the Captain of the Griffin Knights, that is some accolade to have under your belt."
Saito shrugged "He was a worthy adversary. If only he didn't make the mistake of getting caught off guard." He looked up at the sky "It's getting late, I got to go." Giving them a quick wave goodbye, he ran into the burning forest and disappeared into the night.
A few hours later, back at the Tristain Magical Academy
"You should've killed that man."
"… Beg pardon?" Saito folded his arms, somewhat confused.
"I saw the evil in that man's heart. It would have been less troubling for you if you killed him."
Saito, somewhat ignoring the lecture, glanced to his left; Guiche and Montmorency were having a little moonlit dinner in the distance.
"There you are!" A voice screamed. He turned around; it was Louise, her face red with anger "Where the HELL have you been, you stupid dog?!"
Saito groaned "Look, I am already getting a lecture. I don't need you to keep yelling at me for doing absolutely nothing. Just get some shut eye, alright?"
"You Have NO respect for me do you?" she shrieked "You can't just come and go as you please. Nor can you leave me hanging for my life on a runaway horse!"
Saito rolled his eyes as he walked over to Guiche and Montmorency's table "You don't mind if I take this, do you?" he swiped Guiche's drink and downed it in one gulp.
"Eek!" Montmorency squeaked in horror. Saito took notice, but ignored it.
"What, it's not like this is going to make me pass-" it was all Saito was able to say before he collapsed, unconscious.
Louise, Guiche, and Montmorency stared in shock "Seriously? He passes out after one drink?"
Montmorency had a look of panic on her face "W… we should really get going, shouldn't we Guiche?" she grabbed Guiche by the sleeve and dragged him away.
As they walked away, Saito slowly got to his feet "…"
"Oh now you wake up, you dog!" Louise growled, anger present in his voice "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"I- I… I'm sorry," Saito gave Louise a sincere apology.
"No! That's no excuse-" Louise blinked "Wait, what?" that was the last thing she expected him to say "What did you say?"
"I'm sorry. Look I know that I haven't been the most loyal person in the world, but the truth is…" For the first time since he got here, he removed his hood, revealing pitch black hair, dark blue eyes, and a red blush on his face "I'm in love with you!"
"Eh?" Louise's face turned red with embarrassment "Eh?!"
In the distance, Montmorency watched the two "Oh no… what have I done? This is all my fault…"
Weapons unlocked!
Ingram Mac-10: a .45 ACP submachine gun/ machine pistol developed by Gordon B. Ingram. It was commonly seen in the hands of CIA agents in the Vietnam War. It burns through ammunition very quickly, so Saito has to be careful using it when using on fully automatic. It is currently equipped with a suppressor. Including the 18 rounds in the magazine, he has 138 rounds remaining.
M34 WP grenade: a tactical grenade commonly used in the Vietnam War. When used, it expels white phosphorus into the air, which will burn the oxygen, suffocating anyone who gets caught in it. If used properly, it can also be used as a dangerous incendiary weapon. Keep it away from and/or utilize it against fire mages and/or musketeers.
On hand: 2/4
Poison blade: a variant of the hidden blade. Instead of killing the target by stabbing, it injects them with a poison that will slowly kill them with a poison. It utilizes a primitive anesthetic that was recently developed by healers to numb the pain, though in excess, it can be used as a potent poison.
Poison remaining: 100%
Items obtained!
Mercenaries' guild seal: a seal that proves that you are a member of the Mercenaries' guild. Saito obtained this from Eliot so he could be recognized by Jeanne. Fellow members will help out Saito in times of distress and vice versa.
Lighter: a zippo lighter. It can work as a simple light source/ fire starter. It has a chrome finish.
Kevlar leg padding: Some leg padding made of an old type of kevlar. It appears to be custom made, as evident in some of the stitching. Though crude in appearance, the padding will protect Saito's legs if he is shot. It, disturbingly, looks like it was made from salvaged bomb squad armor.
Health: ***
Resistance: ******** (unbreakable)
A/N: Did you ever wonder how Ezio or Altair is able to carry all their equipment, even at their advanced age? It's even worse for Saito's case; using well aged firearms that are not only heavy, but they could break any second if he hasn't cleaned them yet. Also, here's a bit of trivia: the CIA is actually an intelligence agency owned and used for the benefit of The Templar Order, and to be more specific, Abstergo Industries. And sorry for the cliffhanger, and sorry for not updating, I had a lot of things to do this summer. Anyways, please review.